Major music companies, including Universal Music Group, are negotiating licensing AI music deals with two startups, The Wall Street Journal quoted insiders as saying. The negotiations could set a precedent for AI-generated remixes and the way artists are compensated.

Universal, Warner Music Group (WMG.US)      and Sony Music Group hoped to receive compensation from startups Suno and Udio when music of their contracted artists is used to train generative AI models and produce new music, the report quoted insiders as saying. The companies represent popular artists such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, etc..

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In order to determine how much artists and record labels should be paid, the companies want the above startups to develop a set of fingerprint recognition and attribution technologies (similar to Youtube's content ID) that can track when and how songs are used, the insiders added.

Moreover, these music companies want to be actively involved in the music-related products released by the AI companies, including having a say in which products are developed and how they work.

Each label is in separate negotiations with the startups, and that they are at different stages of progress. The negotiations also show that record labels, like movie studios and book publishers, are trying to protect their businesses from the threat of generative AI while creating new revenue streams.
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